Khartoum: Volker Perthes has been designated "persona non grata" by the Sudanese government, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Just weeks after army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan accused Perthes of inciting the country's conflict and asked for his removal, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it had "notified the Secretary-General of the United Nations that it has declared Mr. Volker Perthes... persona non grata as of today."

According to the UN mission's Twitter account, Perthes was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Thursday for a number of diplomatic discussions.

Also Read: Turkiye stops medical visits, leaving Syrians without access to life-saving care

Military and Islamist-backed protests against alleged foreign meddling have targeted Perthes and the UN mission he leads in war-torn Sudan since late last year.

Sudan's de facto leader Burhan demanded his replacement in a letter to the UN last month, accusing the representative of failing to respect "national sovereignty" and blaming him for escalating fighting between the army and paramilitaries.

Also Read: Sweden's government says that NATO may station troops there before Stockholm accedes

Perthes has received support from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Security Council members.
However, the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS)'s mandate was only extended by six months by the Security Council last week.

Also Read: Anak Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia explodes and throws a massive ash column

UNITAMS was initially established in June 2020 to assist Sudan's democratic transition following Omar Al-Bashir's overthrow a year earlier, and it had previously been extended annually for a year.